Fire and Water
by BetterThanCoffee
Summary: Katara and Zuko bond over the memories of their mothers. [Post-Southern Raiders]. FRIENDSHIP ONLY


It had been three days since Katara faced her mother's murderer. Three days since she let the man who ripped apart her entire family walk away. Katara did not regret her decision, but that did not mean she wouldn't be sorry if he were to drop dead this very second. It takes a cruel man to slaughter a mother, and an even worse man to offer up his own in compensation. He was just a pathetic man with a sad life. Katara prayed that the spirits would not be kind to him.

Ever since her stand-off with the Southern Raider occurred, Katara had been plagued with nightmares. When she was young, she would dream of her mother every night, and every night, her mother was torn away from the waterbender. The image of her mother's terrified face, as she kneeled below the man who would be her undoing, haunted Katara. It was that face that Katara dreamed about.

Katara could not handle being surrounded by her friends, at the moment. Every moment, one of them shot Katara a sympathetic look. Even Sokka had gotten into the habit. The waterbender did not want anyone's pity – especially not her brothers. It all became too much, so Katara left. She had found a secluded glen, full of bright foliage and a waterfall so clear, it almost didn't look real. The silence was only broken by the occasional quack of a turtle-duck.

Gazing into the pool that had gathered beneath the water fall, Katara could not help but to see her mother staring back at her. Same blue eyes, same rounded face, same everything. Katara could not see herself in the reflection. Everything in the world had melted away, and Katara was staring face-to-face with her mother.

"Mom," Katara croaked out, her throat suddenly parched, "Why did you have to leave?"

The waterbender waiting anxiously for an answer that would never come.

"Mom! Answer me, Mom!" Tears had started rolling down Katara's cheek. One by one, the tears would drop into the water, the ripples marring the image.

"Mom, please! Please listen to me. There is so much I have to ask," the teen paused, but with no reply. Katara started getting frustrated. No, frustrated was not the proper word to express her emotions. Katara was angry. A burst of anger flooded Katara's veins, seeping into her entire being, until there was nothing left but rage.

"How could you leave us? Leave Dad, leave Sokka? How could you leave me? How? Tell me!" Katara was full on sobbing now. Heaving gasps for air wracked the teen's body. "You should have just let them take me. Sokka would still have a mother, and Dad would still have a wife."

Katara curled up in a ball, unable to stand looking at the reflection a moment longer. Every mirror and ever pool was a curse. The waterbender could not look at herself without seeing her mother. Kanna was a beautiful woman, but somehow, on Katara, her image turned sour. The look her dad gave her when they reunited after two years, all those months ago, broke Katara's heart. Even her own father could not look at her without being reminded of his late wife.

"Why couldn't you just let me go, Mom? Why?"

"It's because she loved you," a voice suddenly spoke, jolting Katara out of her own world. It would make sense for Sokka to seek the waterbender out, or even Aang, but seeing Zuko standing before her was a strange and surprising phenomenon.

Katara turned her face away from the firebender, ashamed to be found in such a vulnerable state. After several minutes of silence, Katara thought that perhaps Zuko walked away, but then he continued to surprise the waterbender by sitting beside her hunched up figure. The pair didn't say a single word, staring at the waterfall raining down.

"You know," Zuko finally broke the quiet atmosphere, "my mother sacrificed herself for me."

"What?" Katara said, turning to face the banished prince.

"My father," Zuko paused for a beat, "Lord Ozai was ordered to kill me. My mother killed my grandfather to protect me. I haven't seen her since that day."

Katara had her hands over her mouth in an amalgamation of horror and disgust. "That's terrible, Zuko."

"The worst part is," Zuko started, his eyes intense, as if aflame, from the memory, "is that I have no idea if my mother is still alive."

The waterbender reached out, and tangled her fingers with Zuko's. She wasn't sure if she was comforting him, or herself, but suddenly, they were one. The elements of fire and water were complete opposites, but in this very moment, isolated away, they understood each other. The loss of their mothers was something they could bond over. It did not matter that Zuko used to chase Katara, it did not matter that Katara used to despise him. Nothing matter, except the comfort of someone who knew your burderns.

"Thank you," said Katara.

Zuko raised his remaining eyebrow. "For what?"

"I don't know. For being with me when we found my mother's murderer. For comforting me. Just thanks."

Zuko gave a small grin, imperceptible to all, unless you knew to look. "It is almost like we're friends."

"We are friends," Katara squeezed Zuko's hand, and the firebender full-out beamed.

"You know," Zuko started, with a wicked gleam in his eye, "from what I can tell from around camp, you don't make a bad substitute for a mom."

Katara smirked, and before Zuko could even blink, he was drowned by a massive way thrown at him from a master waterbender.

Zuko wiped the water from his eyes, and shook out his hair, "Fair enough."

Suddenly, the serious atmosphere was broken, and the two collapsed, unable to catch their breaths, they were laughing so hard. For months upon months, they had to stand up and act like adults in an adults' war. They had almost forgotten that they were mere children. As if a switch was flipped, the two tromped through the water, trying to see who could out-splash whom. Of course, the waterbender had the advantage, but neither cared. This was the most unencumbered the pair had felt in a long time.

Collapsing on the ground, gasping for air, Katara waterbended the water out of their clothes. Every time one looked at the other, they broke out in a fit of giggles. With the comet quickly approaching, there had not been much time for laughter around camp. Despite the tragic circumstances, this was the most fun either of them had had in a long time.

"Come on," Zuko said, hoisting Katara to her feet. "You better get back; Aang is worried."

"Why would Aang be worried?" Katara says off-handedly, trying to avoid from arousing suspicion. Zuko gave Katara a knowing look anyways, and the waterbender could not keep the blush from rising in her cheeks.

"If you ever need any advice," Zuko started in a cheeky air that immediately put Katara on the defensive, "I have had a girlfriend."

Zuko needed to learn to stop poking the waterbender, because next thing he was aware of, was that he was completely encased in ice.

"Get me out!"

Katara, already running away, shouted out, "I can't hear you, Zuko"

Zuko groaned, left trapped in the ice. At least he was a firebender, and when he would finally thaw himself out, Katara better watch out. This means war.


End file.
